Sheet bonding device

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a sheet bonding apparatus that can easily reduce concerns about poor cutting. [Solution] A sheet attaching apparatus includes: an attaching unit for attaching a sheet to a workpiece held by a work chuck; and a cutting unit for cutting the attached sheet. The cutting unit includes: a cutting blade for cutting the sheet; a moving unit for moving the cutting blade up and down toward the work chuck or along the outer periphery of the workpiece; and a cleaning unit for removing any adhering material from the cutting blade. The cleaning unit is disposed on the track of the moving cutting blade and contacts the moving cutting blade to perform cleaning.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This invention relates to a sheet bonding device. [Previous Technology]

[0002] Various device chips can be manufactured from various plate-shaped workpieces such as semiconductor wafers on which semiconductor devices are formed, resin encapsulation substrates, glass substrates, and ceramic substrates, and can be used in electronic devices. Although each substrate is thinned by grinding or divided by cutting blades or laser beams, at that time, in order to protect the front side (device side) of the wafer or to prevent the chip from becoming scattered, a sheet bonding device is used to bond resin sheets such as adhesive tape to the workpiece (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Previous Art Documents Patent Documents

[0003] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 4387879 [Summary of the Invention]

[0004] The problem the invention aims to solve

[0005] In a sheet bonding apparatus, after a sheet wider than the workpiece is bonded to the workpiece, the unwanted outer peripheral portion of the sheet is cut off and removed by a cutting blade, such as a cutter blade. If debris from a soft resin sheet adheres to the cutting blade, the following problems may occur: reduced sharpness, inability to cut, and wobbling of the cut end.

[0006] Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide a sheet bonding apparatus that can easily reduce concerns about poor cutting. Means for solving the problem

[0007] According to the present invention, a sheet attaching apparatus is provided, the sheet attaching apparatus comprising: an attaching unit for attaching a sheet to a workpiece held by a work chuck; and a cutting unit for cutting the attached sheet, the cutting unit comprising: a cutting blade for cutting the sheet; a moving unit for moving the cutting blade toward the work chuck or along the outer periphery of the workpiece; and a cleaning unit for removing adhering material from the cutting blade, the cleaning unit being disposed on the track of the cutting blade that moves by the moving unit and contacting the moving cutting blade to perform cleaning.

[0008] Preferably, the cleaning section involves a scraper or brush contacting the cutting edge. Effects of the Invention

[0009] The present invention can easily reduce concerns about poor cutting.

Implementation Method

[0011] Form used to implement the invention

[0012] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention is not limited to the contents described in the following embodiments. Furthermore, the constituent elements described below include constituent elements that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art, and substantially the same constituent elements. In addition, the configurations described below are adaptably combinable. Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions, or modifications to the configuration can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0013] [First Embodiment] The sheet bonding apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG1 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the configuration of the sheet bonding apparatus 1 of the first embodiment. FIG2 is a plan view showing the sheet bonding object, i.e., the workpiece 100, of the sheet bonding apparatus 1 of FIG1. ​​FIG3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the bonding unit 20 of FIG1. ​​FIG4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the cutting unit 30 of FIG1. ​​FIG5 is a top view showing the cleaning section 33 of FIG1. ​​FIG6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the cleaning section 33 of FIG1. ​​As shown in FIG1, the sheet bonding apparatus 1 includes a worktable 10, a bonding unit 20, a cutting unit 30, and a control unit 40.

[0014] The sheet attachment object of the sheet attachment apparatus 1 in the first embodiment, that is, the workpiece 100 that serves as the adhered object, is, for example, a disc-shaped semiconductor wafer or optical device wafer using silicon, sapphire, silicon carbide (SiC), gallium arsenide, or the like as the base material. As shown in FIG2, the workpiece 100 has a device 103 formed in the area defined by a plurality of predetermined dividing lines 102 formed in a grid pattern on the front side 101. However, this is not limited to this invention; the workpiece 100 may also be a rectangular resin encapsulation substrate, a glass substrate, a ceramic substrate, or a glass plate having a plurality of devices sealed in resin.

[0015] The sheet 200 attached to the workpiece 100 by the sheet attaching device 1 in the first embodiment can be, for example, an adhesive tape, which has a laminated structure of a resin-based substrate layer and a paste layer formed by a resin-based adhesive. In this embodiment, the sheet 200 is attached with the adhesive paste layer side facing the front 101 side of the workpiece 100, thereby protecting the front 101 side of the workpiece 100. This invention is not limited to this; instead of the front 101 side of the workpiece 100, the sheet 200 can also be attached to the back 104 side, which is opposite to the front 101 side. Alternatively, a protective sheet with only a substrate layer and no paste layer can be heated and pressed onto the workpiece 100. Furthermore, in this invention, the sheet 200 is not limited to so-called adhesive tape, but can also be a so-called thermoplastic resin sheet that obtains adhesion by heating, thereby softening or melting the thermoplastic resin and expanding it into a sheet shape.

[0016] The work chuck 10 includes a disc-shaped frame with a recess and a disc-shaped adsorption part embedded in the recess. The adsorption part of the work chuck 10 is formed of porous ceramic or the like and is connected to a vacuum suction source (not shown) via a vacuum suction path (not shown). The upper surface of the adsorption part of the work chuck 10 is a holding surface 11 for placing the workpiece 100 and holding it in place. In the first embodiment, the holding surface 11 allows the workpiece 100 to be placed with its front side 101 facing upwards, and the workpiece 100 is held in place by suction from the back side 104. Furthermore, the work chuck 10 in this invention is not limited to a so-called porous work chuck with an adsorption part formed of porous ceramic or the like, and may also be configured to have suction holes provided in the area corresponding to the workpiece 100. The holding surface 11 and the upper surface of the frame of the work chuck 10 are arranged on the same plane and formed parallel to the horizontal plane. The work chuck 10 has an annular groove 12 formed on the upper surface of the frame, and the groove 12 has the same diameter as the outer circumference diameter of the workpiece 100. The groove 12 is formed as a track for the cutting blade 31 that moves by the moving unit 32 of the cutting unit 30 (described later), and functions as a retraction groove for the cutting blade 31. The cleaning part 33 of the cutting unit 30 can be arranged inside the groove.

[0017] In the first embodiment, the attaching unit 20 includes a roller 21, which is disposed above the work chuck 10 and moves along with the rotation while rotating about an axis parallel to the horizontal direction. As shown in FIG3, the attaching unit 20, with the cutting unit 30 fully retracted from the work chuck 10 and above, moves the roller 21 from one end of the workpiece 100 held by the work chuck 10 to the other end by rotating it across the sheet 200. While sequentially placing the sheet 200 from one end of the workpiece 100's front side 101, the roller 21 pushes the placed sheet 200 toward the workpiece 100 with a predetermined pushing force, thereby attaching the sheet 200 to the front side 101 of the workpiece 100 held by the work chuck 10. When the sheet 200 attached to the workpiece 100 is a thermoplastic resin sheet, in addition to the rotational movement of the roller 21, the attachment unit 20 can also soften the sheet 200 by heating it from the roller 21 side or the work chuck 10 side, and then attach the softened sheet 200 to the front side 101 of the workpiece 100.

[0018] Furthermore, in this invention, the attaching unit 20 is not limited to having rollers 21; it can also use a pressing plate with a pressing surface having the same shape and area as the worktable 10 to press and attach the sheet 200 to the front surface 101 of the workpiece 100. Alternatively, the attaching unit 20 can use spray air to attach the sheet 200 to the front surface 101 of the workpiece 100. Furthermore, a vacuum attaching machine can also be used, utilizing air pressure difference to attach the sheet 200 to the workpiece 100.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 4, the cutting unit 30 includes a cutting blade 31, a moving unit 32, and a cleaning unit 33. The moving unit 32 includes a circular plate 34, a cutting blade support 35, a lifting unit 36, and a rotation drive unit 37. The circular plate 34 is disposed above the work clamp 10. The cutting blade support 35 is disposed in a predetermined area in the circumferential direction on the lower side of the outer periphery of the circular plate 34, and supports the cutting blade 31 with the tip side facing downward toward the work clamp 10.

[0020] The lifting unit 36 ​​is connected to the circular plate 34, and by raising and lowering the circular plate 34, the cutting blade support 35 is raised and lowered along the vertical direction (Z-axis direction in Figure 4), causing the cutting blade 31 to descend towards the worktable 10 or rise relative to the worktable 10. The lifting unit 36 ​​outputs the height information of the circular plate 34 to the control unit 40.

[0021] The rotary drive unit 37 is connected to the circular plate 34, and drives the circular plate 34 to rotate around an axis parallel to the vertical direction, thereby causing the cutting blade support 35 to rotate and move along the circumference of the circular plate 34, and causing the cutting blade 31 to rotate and move along the circumference of the circular plate 34. The rotary drive unit 37 outputs information about the rotation angle of the circular plate 34 to the control unit 40.

[0022] As shown in FIG4, the cutting unit 30 lowers the circular plate 34 and the cutting blade support 35 toward the work chuck 10 by means of the lifting part 36, so that the tip side of the cutting blade 31 cuts into the sheet 200 attached to the front side 101 side of the workpiece 100 held by the work chuck 10. In the first embodiment, the circular plate 34 is rotated around the axis by means of the rotation drive 37 while the groove 12 is slightly inserted, so that the cutting blade 31 rotates and moves along the outer periphery of the workpiece 100, thereby cutting off the portion 201 of the sheet 200 that extends radially from the outer periphery of the workpiece 100. Furthermore, although in the first embodiment the cutting unit 30 is configured to cut the sheet 200 by inserting the tip of the cutting blade 31 slightly into the groove 12, this invention is not limited to this; the tip of the cutting blade 31 may also be configured to cut the sheet 200 by slightly raising it from the groove 12. Also, although in the first embodiment the cutting unit 30 cuts the sheet 200 from the side of the sheet 200 already attached to the workpiece 100 by cutting the cutting blade 31, this invention is not limited to this; the sheet 200 may also be cut from the side of the workpiece 100.

[0023] The cutting unit 30 is provided with a cutting blade heating part (not shown) that heats the tip of the cutting blade 31. The cutting blade heating part can heat the tip of the cutting blade 31, thereby heating and softening the sheet 200 to make it easy to cut, suppressing the formation of burrs on the sheet 200, and cutting the sheet 200 by more accurately conforming the cutting blade 31 to the shape of the outer periphery of the workpiece 100.

[0024] As shown in Figures 5 and 6, the cleaning section 33 includes a plurality of cleaning members 38. In the first embodiment, although the plurality of cleaning members 38 are arranged in a predetermined area in the circumferential direction within the groove 12 of the work stand 10 as shown in Figure 5, this is not the case in the present invention. They may also be arranged in a plurality of areas, or they may be arranged to cover the entire circumference without omission. The plurality of cleaning members 38 are all arranged such that the cleaning portion (cleaning portion) of the cutting edge 31 faces toward and overlaps with the track of the cutting edge 31 tip within the groove 12 of the work stand 10. Some of the cleaning members 38 are arranged on the inner circumferential side of the track of the cutting edge 31 tip, extending the cleaning portion of the cutting edge towards the outer circumferential side, while the remaining cleaning members 38 are arranged on the outer circumferential side of the track of the cutting edge 31 tip, extending the cleaning portion towards the inner circumferential side.

[0025] The cleaning member 38 removes deposits adhering to the sides and front end of the cutting edge 31 by contacting the inner and outer circumferential sides of the cutting edge 31's tip with its cleaning portions. This is achieved by deforming along the sides of the cutting edge 31's tip while pressing against it. Therefore, the cleaning member 38 can appropriately adjust the force pressing against the cutting edge 31's tip by adjusting the amount of overlap (e.g., length) between the cleaning portions and the cutting edge 31's track, or the deformation properties (e.g., elastic force) of the material forming the cleaning portions. Furthermore, the deposits adhering to the cutting edge 31's tip are, for example, resin debris from the sheet 200 that adheres to the cutting edge 31's tip when the cutting edge 31 cuts the sheet 200.

[0026] In the first embodiment, as shown in Figures 5 and 6, the cleaning member 38 is formed of an elastic member such as rubbery resin, and is a scraper or spatula that cleans by having the cleaning portion, i.e., the front end portion, contact the tip of the cutting blade 31. In the first embodiment, a plurality of pairs (eight pairs in the example shown in Figure 5) of cleaning members 38, i.e., scrapers or spatulas, are provided, and the cleaning portions are arranged facing each other along tracks toward the tips of the cutting blade 31. This invention is not limited to this; the cleaning member 38 may also be a rotating roller formed of an elastic member such as rubbery resin, and whose cleaning portion, i.e., the outer peripheral portion, contacts the tip of the cutting blade 31 for cleaning. Alternatively, the cleaning member 38 may be a brush that cleans by having the cleaning portion, i.e., the bristle portion, contact the tip of the cutting blade 31. Furthermore, the cleaning component 38 may also be configured such that it is pressed onto the tip of the cutting blade 31 by means of an elastic component such as rubber-like resin, and can deform along the tip of the cutting blade 31.

[0027] The control unit 40 controls the operation of various components of the sheet attaching apparatus 1 and causes the sheet attaching apparatus 1 to perform the following processes: attaching the sheet 200 to the front surface 101 of the workpiece 100, cutting off the excess portion 201 of the sheet 200, and cleaning the tip of the cutting blade 31. In the first embodiment, the control unit 40 includes a computer system. The computer system included in the control unit 40 has an arithmetic processing unit, a memory unit, and an input / output interface device. The arithmetic processing unit has a microprocessor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and the memory unit has a memory such as ROM (Read Only Memory) or RAM (Random Access Memory). The arithmetic processing unit of the control unit 40 performs arithmetic processing according to the computer program stored in the memory device of the control unit 40, and outputs the control signals used to control the sheet attaching device 1 to each component of the sheet attaching device 1 through the input / output interface device of the control unit 40.

[0028] Next, this specification will use drawings to illustrate the cleaning process of the sheet attaching device 1 in the first embodiment. The sheet attaching device 1 performs cleaning processes, for example, after cutting the sheet 200 with the cutting blade 31, or before cutting the next sheet 200 with the cutting blade 31.

[0029] In the cleaning process, the control unit 40 of the sheet attaching device 1 first controls the rotary drive unit 37 to rotate the circular plate 34, causing the cutting blade 31 to rotate and move along the circumference of the circular plate 34. As shown in FIG. 5, the circumferential position of the tip of the cutting blade 31 is aligned with a predetermined area where the cleaning member 38 is disposed and the cleaning portion of the cleaning member 38 faces. Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the control unit 40 controls the lifting unit 36 ​​to repeatedly raise and lower the circular plate 34, causing the cutting blade 31 to repeatedly rise and fall. The tip of the cutting blade 31 passes through the area facing the cleaning portion of the cleaning member 38 a predetermined number of times in both the upward and downward directions. In this way, the cleaning member 38 removes any adhering material from the tip of the cutting blade 31 each time the tip of the cutting blade 31 passes through this area, thus cleaning the tip of the cutting blade 31.

[0030] The sheet attaching device 1 of the first embodiment having the above configuration has the following effects by arranging a cleaning part 33 that can remove the adhering material of the cutting blade 31 on a movable track of the cutting blade 31: the adhering material of the cutting blade 31 can be removed without adding an actuator, and the sharpness of the cutting blade 31 can be prevented from decreasing, thereby easily reducing concerns about poor cutting.

[0031] Furthermore, the sheet attaching device 1 of the first embodiment can be configured as a cleaning part 33 by forming a scraper or brush made of an elastic member that can be pressed against the tip of the cutting blade 31 and is deformable, or the cleaning part 33 can be fixed to the elastic member, thereby achieving the following effect: without using an actuator, the cleaning part 33 can be brought into contact with the cutting blade 31 with an appropriate force, so that cleaning can be performed appropriately.

[0032] [Second Embodiment] The sheet attaching apparatus 1 of the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG7 is a cross-sectional view showing the cleaning section 33-2 of the sheet attaching apparatus 1 of the second embodiment. In FIG7, the same reference numerals are added to the same parts as in the first embodiment, and the description is omitted.

[0033] The sheet attaching device 1 of the second embodiment is configured such that the cleaning part 33 is changed to a cleaning part 33-2, while the other components are the same as those in the first embodiment. As shown in FIG7, the cleaning part 33-2 includes a pair of cleaning members 38-2, a groove member 51, a spring 52, a linkage mechanism 53, and a buffer member 54. Although the pair of cleaning members 38-2 are scrapers formed with the same elastic members as the cleaning member 38 in the first embodiment, they differ from the cleaning member 38 in the first embodiment in that they are formed in a curved shape.

[0034] The groove member 51 is provided within the groove 12 of the work clamp 10, and as shown in FIG. 7, it has a base 55 and a pair of sidewall portions 56 erected upward from the base 55. The pair of sidewall portions 56 are arranged at intervals in the width direction of the groove 12, that is, in the radial direction of the work clamp 10, and have a width between them that is wider than the thickness of the cutting edge 31 tip and narrower than the groove 12. A groove 57 is formed between the pair of sidewall portions 56.

[0035] The spring 52 has one end connected to the bottom surface of the groove 57, i.e., the upper surface of the base 55, and the other end connected to the joint 59 of the linkage mechanism 53. The linkage mechanism 53 has a pair of rod-shaped members, namely the connecting rods 58, and a rotating shaft member, namely the joint 59, that connects one end of the pair of connecting rods 58 to each other in a manner that allows them to rotate relative to each other. Each of the connecting rods 58 has one end connected to the joint 59, and the other end is supported from below at a certain height by the upper surface of the side wall 56, etc. The joint 59 is positioned on the trajectory of the cutting edge 31, and when no force is applied, it is given potential energy upward by the spring 52, thus becoming higher than the other end of the connecting rod 58.

[0036] Each of the connecting rod portions 58 has a cleaning member 38-2 disposed at its other end facing upward. The front ends (cleaning portions) of the pair of cleaning members 38-2 disposed on the pair of connecting rod portions 58 are bent toward each other in opposite directions before cleaning the tip of the cutting blade 31. The joint portion 59 is given potential energy upward due to the spring 52, and thereafter, the cleaning portions of the pair of cleaning members 38-2 are given potential energy in a direction away from each other. In this way, the linkage mechanism 53 gives potential energy to the cleaning portions of the pair of cleaning members 38-2 in a direction away from each other, and the tip of the cutting blade 31 is lowered by the lifting portion 36. The tip of the cutting blade 31 causes the joint portion 59 to move downward against the given potential energy, and thereafter, the cleaning portions of the pair of cleaning members 38-2 can move toward each other against the given potential energy.

[0037] The buffer member 54 is disposed above the joint portion 59 of the linkage mechanism 53 and can buffer the impact borne by the tip of the cutting blade 31 descending via the lifting portion 36. Preferably, the buffer member 54 is not only not cut by the tip of the cutting blade 31, but can also be made of a material that can flexibly deform according to the tip of the cutting blade 31 when it contacts from above. For example, it can be formed of the same elastic member as the cleaning members 38 and 38-2.

[0038] Furthermore, the sheet attaching device 1 of the second embodiment may be provided with one cleaning part 33-2, or a plurality of cleaning parts 33-2 may be arranged in the extension direction of the groove 12 (circumferential direction of the work table).

[0039] Next, this specification will use drawings to illustrate the cleaning process of the sheet attaching apparatus 1 in the second embodiment. During the cleaning process, the control unit 40 of the sheet attaching apparatus 1 in the second embodiment first aligns the circumferential position of the tip of the cutting blade 31 with a predetermined area where the cleaning member 38-2 is disposed, similar to the first embodiment. In the cleaning process of the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the control unit 40 then lowers the circular plate 34 by controlling the lifting unit 36, thereby lowering the tip of the cutting blade 31, and the tip of the cutting blade 31 moves downward against the applied potential energy by the friction member 54. In this way, the pair of cleaning components 38-2 move towards each other against the applied potential energy, so that each cleaning component contacts the inner and outer circumferential sides of the cutting edge 31. While pressing against the side of the cutting edge 31 with appropriate force, the cleaning component moves towards the front end of the cutting edge 31, thereby removing the adhering material to the cutting edge 31 and cleaning the cutting edge 31.

[0040] Furthermore, in the cleaning process of the second embodiment, the control unit 40 raises the circular plate 34 by controlling the lifting part 36, thereby raising the tip of the cutting blade 31 and releasing the downward force applied by the cutting blade 31 to the head 59 through the buffer member 54. In this way, the pair of cleaning members 38-2 remove the adhering material attached to the tip of the cutting blade 31 by moving the cleaning parts that have been pressed against the inner and outer peripheral sides of the tip of the cutting blade 31 with appropriate force while releasing the pressing force towards the base end side of the tip of the cutting blade 31. After cleaning the tip of the cutting blade 31, they move away from the inner and outer peripheral sides of the tip of the cutting blade 31, respectively, thereby opening the tip of the cutting blade 31.

[0041] The sheet attaching device 1 of the second embodiment, having the above configuration, is configured such that the cleaning part 33 is changed to the cleaning part 33-2 in the first embodiment, and therefore achieves the same effect as the first embodiment. Furthermore, the sheet attaching device 1 of the second embodiment removes the adhering material attached to the tip of the cutting blade 31 by pressing the cleaning part of the cleaning member 38-2 against the inner and outer circumferential sides of the cutting blade tip with appropriate force while moving towards the front end of the cutting blade tip 31. Therefore, it achieves the following effects: it can remove the adhering material more effectively and reduces the possibility of damage to the cleaning part of the cleaning member 38-2 due to the cutting blade tip 31.

[0042] Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. That is, various modifications can be made without departing from the essential points of the present invention. [Simplified Explanation of the Diagram]

[0010] FIG1 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration example of the sheet bonding apparatus of the first embodiment. FIG2 is a plan view showing the sheet bonding object, i.e., the workpiece, of the sheet bonding apparatus of FIG1. ​​FIG3 is a cross-sectional view showing the bonding unit of FIG1. ​​FIG4 is a cross-sectional view showing the cutting unit of FIG1. ​​FIG5 is a top view showing the cleaning section of FIG1. ​​FIG6 is a cross-sectional view showing the cleaning section of FIG1. ​​FIG7 is a cross-sectional view showing the cleaning section of the sheet bonding apparatus of the second embodiment.

Claims

1. A sheet attaching apparatus, characterized in that it comprises: an attaching unit for attaching a sheet to a workpiece held by a work chuck; and a cutting unit for cutting the attached sheet, the cutting unit comprising: a cutting blade for cutting the sheet; a moving unit for moving the cutting blade toward the work chuck or along the outer periphery of the workpiece; and a cleaning unit for removing adhering material from the cutting blade, and disposed on the work chuck, the cleaning unit being disposed on a track of the cutting blade that moves by the moving unit, and contacting the cutting blade moving on the track to perform cleaning.

2. The sheet attaching apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cleaning unit is disposed on the track of the cutting blade that moves by the moving unit when the cutting blade cuts along the outer periphery of the workpiece, and contacts the cutting blade moving on the track to perform cleaning.

3. The sheet attaching apparatus of claim 2, wherein a groove is formed on the track on the upper surface of the worktable, and the cleaning part is disposed inside the groove.

4. The sheet attaching apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the cleaning part causes a scraper or brush to contact the cutting blade.

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